Research

  • Fibroids affect 77% of women by the onset of menopause in the U.S. and account for $2.1 billion in healthcare costs each year. Fibroids negatively impact reproductive health causing heavy and painful menses, pelvic pain and pressure, pregnancy complications, and interventions including myomectomy and hysterectomy. Until recently, tumor tissue and cell culture studies investigating fibroid growth have been the primary sources for understanding fibroid pathophysiology. Genetic analysis can provide a powerful and cost-effective tool to identify etiological and causal factors, especially since a genetic predisposition to fibroids has already been documented from twin studies. As much as 69% of the risk is explained by genetic factors. Racial disparities also support a role for genetics with fibroid risk. African American women have an earlier age of onset, more numerous, and larger fibroids with a greater lifetime incidence compared to European Americans. We have funded projects to conduct large-scale genetic studies of fibroids that include GWAS and a large-scale sequencing (whole and exome sequencing) experiment in collaboration with Geisinger Health Systems. We have also collaborated with the eMERGE Network, 23andMe, and the UKBiobank to conduct these studies. This study also includes the evaluation of genetically predicted gene expression and phenome-wide association analyses.

     

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  • We are currently contributing genotype data from the BioVU DNA Resource at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to the Ovarian Cancer Consortium (OCAC). Dr. Velez Edwards is the site PI for the BVU data being contributed to OCAC. We contributed 449 ovarian cancer cases and 545 controls, which are now redeposited in BioVU and available for future studies in BioVU. We are also collaborating with Dr. Alicia Beeghly-Fadiel on studies looking at ovarian cancer survival. We welcome any collaborations to expand analyses of these data for genetic studies in BioVU. Ongoing collaboration with OCAC consortium and studies evaluating differential genetically predicted gene expression within our local BioVU ovarian cancer data.

     

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    Glubb DM, Johnatty SE, Quinn MCJ, O'Mara TA, Tyrer JP, Gao B, Fasching PA, Beckmann MW, Lambrechts D, Vergote I, Velez Edwards DR, Beeghly-Fadiel A, Benitez J, Garcia MJ, Goodman MT, Thompson PJ, Dörk T, Dürst M, Modungo F, Moysich K, Heitz F, du Bois A, Pfisterer J, Hillemanns P, , Karlan BY, Lester J, Goode EL, Cunningham JM, Winham SJ, Larson MC, McCauley BM, Kjær SK, Jensen A, Schildkraut JM, Berchuck A, Cramer DW, Terry KL, Salvesen HB, Bjorge L, Webb PM, Grant P, Pejovic T, Moffitt M, Hogdall CK, Hogdall E, Paul J, Glasspool R, Bernardini M, Tone A, Huntsman D, Woo M, Group A, deFazio A, Kennedy CJ, Pharoah PDP, MacGregor S, Chenevix-Trench G. Analyses of germline variants associated with ovarian cancer survival identify functional candidates at the 1q22 and 19p12 outcome loci. Oncotarget. 2017 Sep 9/12/2017; 8(39): 64670-84. PMID: 29029385, PMCID: PMC5630285, PII: 18501, DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.18501, ISSN: 1949-2553. 

    Phelan CM, Kuchenbaecker KB, Tyrer JP, Kar SP, Lawrenson K, Winham SJ, Dennis J, Pirie A, Riggan MJ, Chornokur G, Earp MA, Lyra PC, Lee JM, Coetzee S, Beesley J, McGuffog L, Soucy P, Dicks E, Lee A, Barrowdale D, Lecarpentier J, Leslie G, Aalfs CM, Aben KKH, Adams M, Adlard J, Andrulis IL, Anton-Culver H, Antonenkova N, , Aravantinos G, Arnold N, Arun BK, Arver B, Azzollini J, Balmaña J, Banerjee SN, Barjhoux L, Barkardottir RB, Bean Y, Beckmann MW, Beeghly-Fadiel A, Benitez J, Bermisheva M, Bernardini MQ, Birrer MJ, Bjorge L, Black A, Blankstein K, Blok MJ, Bodelon C, Bogdanova N, Bojesen A, Bonanni B, Borg Å, Bradbury AR, Brenton JD, Brewer C, Brinton L, Broberg P, Brooks-Wilson A, Bruinsma F, Brunet J, Buecher B, Butzow R, Buys SS, Caldes T, Caligo MA, Campbell I, Cannioto R, Carney ME, Cescon T, Chan SB, Chang-Claude J, Chanock S, Chen XQ, Chiew YE, Chiquette J, Chung WK, Claes KBM, Conner T, Cook LS, Cook J, Cramer DW, Cunningham JM, D'Aloisio AA, Daly MB, Damiola F, Damirovna SD, Dansonka-Mieszkowska A, Dao F, Davidson R, DeFazio A, Delnatte C, Doheny KF, Diez O, Ding YC, Doherty JA, Domchek SM, Dorfling CM, Dörk T, Dossus L, Duran M, Dürst M, Dworniczak B, Eccles D, Edwards T, Eeles R, Eilber U, Ejlertsen B, Ekici AB, Ellis S, Elvira M, , Eng KH, Engel C, Evans DG, Fasching PA, Ferguson S, Ferrer SF, Flanagan JM, Fogarty ZC, Fortner RT, Fostira F, Foulkes WD, Fountzilas G, Fridley BL, Friebel TM, Friedman E, Frost D, Ganz PA, Garber J, García MJ, Garcia-Barberan V, Gehrig A, , Gentry-Maharaj A, Gerdes AM, Giles GG, Glasspool R, Glendon G, Godwin AK, Goldgar DE, Goranova T, Gore M, Greene MH, Gronwald J, Gruber S, Hahnen E, Haiman CA, Håkansson N, Hamann U, Hansen TVO, Harrington PA, Harris HR, Hauke J, , Hein A, Henderson A, Hildebrandt MAT, Hillemanns P, Hodgson S, Høgdall CK, Høgdall E, Hogervorst FBL, Holland H, Hooning MJ, Hosking K, Huang RY, Hulick PJ, Hung J, Hunter DJ, Huntsman DG, Huzarski T, Imyanitov EN, Isaacs C, Iversen ES, Izatt L, Izquierdo A, Jakubowska A, James P, Janavicius R, Jernetz M, Jensen A, Jensen UB, John EM, Johnatty S, Jones ME, Kannisto P, Karlan BY, Karnezis A, Kast K, , Kennedy CJ, Khusnutdinova E, Kiemeney LA, Kiiski JI, Kim SW, Kjaer SK, Köbel M, Kopperud RK, Kruse TA, Kupryjanczyk J, Kwong A, Laitman Y, Lambrechts D, Larrañaga N, Larson MC, Lazaro C, Le ND, Le Marchand L, Lee JW, Lele SB, Leminen A, Leroux D, Lester J, Lesueur F, Levine DA, Liang D, Liebrich C, Lilyquist J, Lipworth L, Lissowska J, Lu KH, Lubinnski J, Luccarini C, Lundvall L, Mai PL, Mendoza-Fandiño G, Manoukian S, Massuger LFAG, May T, Mazoyer S, McAlpine JN, McGuire V, McLaughlin JR, McNeish I, Meijers-Heijboer H, Meindl A, Menon U, Mensenkamp AR, Merritt MA, Milne RL, Mitchell G, Modugno F, Moes-Sosnowska J, Moffitt M, Montagna M, Moysich KB, Mulligan AM, Musinsky J, Nathanson KL, Nedergaard L, Ness RB, Neuhausen SL, Nevanlinna H, Niederacher D, Nussbaum RL, Odunsi K, Olah E, Olopade OI, Olsson H, Olswold C, O'Malley DM, Ong KR, Onland-Moret NC, , Orr N, Orsulic S, Osorio A, Palli D, Papi L, Park-Simon TW, Paul J, Pearce CL, Pedersen IS, Peeters PHM, Peissel B, Peixoto A, Pejovic T, Pelttari LM, Permuth JB, Peterlongo P, Pezzani L, Pfeiler G, Phillips KA, Piedmonte M, Pike MC, Piskorz AM, Poblete SR, Pocza T, Poole EM, Poppe B, Porteous ME, Prieur F, Prokofyeva D, Pugh E, Pujana MA, Pujol P, Radice P, Rantala J, Rappaport-Fuerhauser C, Rennert G, Rhiem K, Rice P, Richardson A, Robson M, Rodriguez GC, Rodríguez-Antona C, Romm J, Rookus MA, Rossing MA, Rothstein JH, Rudolph A, Runnebaum IB, Salvesen HB, Sandler DP, Schoemaker MJ, Senter L, Setiawan VW, Severi G, Sharma P, Shelford T, Siddiqui N, Side LE, Sieh W, Singer CF, Sobol H, Song H, Southey MC, Spurdle AB, Stadler Z, Steinemann D, Stoppa-Lyonnet D, Sucheston-Campbell LE, Sukiennicki G, Sutphen R, Sutter C, Swerdlow AJ, Szabo CI, Szafron L, Tan YY, Taylor JA, Tea MK, Teixeira MR, Teo SH, Terry KL, Thompson PJ, Thomsen LCV, Thull DL, Tihomirova L, Tinker AV, Tischkowitz M, Tognazzo S, Toland AE, Tone A, Trabert B, Travis RC, Trichopoulou A, Tung N, Tworoger SS, van Altena AM, Van Den Berg D, van der Hout AH, van der Luijt RB, Van Heetvelde M, Van Nieuwenhuysen E, van Rensburg EJ, Vanderstichele A, Varon-Mateeva R, Vega A, Edwards DV, Vergote I, Vierkant RA, Vijai J, Vratimos A, Walker L, Walsh C, Wand D, Wang-Gohrke S, Wappenschmidt B, Webb PM, Weinberg CR, Weitzel JN, Wentzensen N, Whittemore AS, Wijnen JT, Wilkens LR, Wolk A, Woo M, Wu X, Wu AH, Yang H, Yannoukakos D, Ziogas A, Zorn KK, Narod SA, Easton DF, Amos CI, Schildkraut JM, Ramus SJ, Ottini L, Goodman MT, Park SK, Kelemen LE, Risch HA, Thomassen M, Offit K, Simard J, Schmutzler RK, Hazelett D, Monteiro AN, Couch FJ, Berchuck A, Chenevix-Trench G, Goode EL, Sellers TA, Gayther SA, Antoniou AC, Pharoah PDP. Identification of 12 new susceptibility loci for different histotypes of epithelial ovarian cancer. Nat. Genet [print-electronic]. 2017 May; 49(5): 680-91. PMID: 28346442, PII: ng.3826, DOI: 10.1038/ng.3826, ISSN: 1546-1718. 

    Kar SP, Beesley J, Amin Al Olama A, Michailidou K, Tyrer J, Kote-Jarai Z, Lawrenson K, Lindstrom S, Ramus SJ, Thompson DJ, , Kibel AS, Dansonka-Mieszkowska A, Michael A, Dieffenbach AK, Gentry-Maharaj A, Whittemore AS, Wolk A, Monteiro A, Peixoto A, Kierzek A, Cox A, Rudolph A, Gonzalez-Neira A, Wu AH, Lindblom A, Swerdlow A, , , Ziogas A, Ekici AB, Burwinkel B, Karlan BY, Nordestgaard BG, Blomqvist C, Phelan C, McLean C, Pearce CL, Vachon C, Cybulski C, Slavov C, Stegmaier C, Maier C, Ambrosone CB, Høgdall CK, Teerlink CC, Kang D, Tessier DC, Schaid DJ, Stram DO, Cramer DW, Neal DE, Eccles D, Flesch-Janys D, Edwards DR, Wokozorczyk D, Levine DA, Yannoukakos D, Sawyer EJ, Bandera EV, Poole EM, Goode EL, Khusnutdinova E, Høgdall E, Song F, Bruinsma F, Heitz F, Modugno F, Hamdy FC, Wiklund F, Giles GG, Olsson H, Wildiers H, Ulmer HU, Pandha H, Risch HA, Darabi H, Salvesen HB, Nevanlinna H, Gronberg H, Brenner H, Brauch H, Anton-Culver H, Song H, Lim HY, McNeish I, Campbell I, Vergote I, Gronwald J, Lubinski J, Stanford JL, Benítez J, Doherty JA, Permuth JB, Chang-Claude J, Donovan JL, Dennis J, Schildkraut JM, Schleutker J, Hopper JL, Kupryjanczyk J, Park JY, Figueroa J, Clements JA, Knight JA, Peto J, Cunningham JM, Pow-Sang J, Batra J, Czene K, Lu KH, Herkommer K, Khaw KT, , Matsuo K, Muir K, Offitt K, Chen K, Moysich KB, Aittomäki K, Odunsi K, Kiemeney LA, Massuger LF, Fitzgerald LM, Cook LS, Cannon-Albright L, Hooning MJ, Pike MC, Bolla MK, Luedeke M, Teixeira MR, Goodman MT, Schmidt MK, Riggan M, Aly M, Rossing MA, Beckmann MW, Moisse M, Sanderson M, Southey MC, Jones M, Lush M, Hildebrandt MA, Hou MF, Schoemaker MJ, Garcia-Closas M, Bogdanova N, Rahman N, , Le ND, Orr N, Wentzensen N, Pashayan N, Peterlongo P, Guénel P, Brennan P, Paulo P, Webb PM, Broberg P, Fasching PA, Devilee P, Wang Q, Cai Q, Li Q, Kaneva R, Butzow R, Kopperud RK, Schmutzler RK, Stephenson RA, MacInnis RJ, Hoover RN, Winqvist R, Ness R, Milne RL, Travis RC, Benlloch S, Olson SH, McDonnell SK, Tworoger SS, Maia S, Berndt S, Lee SC, Teo SH, Thibodeau SN, Bojesen SE, Gapstur SM, Kjær SK, Pejovic T, Tammela TL, , , Dörk T, Brüning T, Wahlfors T, Key TJ, Edwards TL, Menon U, Hamann U, Mitev V, Kosma VM, Setiawan VW, Kristensen V, Arndt V, Vogel W, Zheng W, Sieh W, Blot WJ, Kluzniak W, Shu XO, Gao YT, Schumacher F, Freedman ML, Berchuck A, Dunning AM, Simard J, Haiman CA, Spurdle A, Sellers TA, Hunter DJ, Henderson BE, Kraft P, Chanock SJ, Couch FJ, Hall P, Gayther SA, Easton DF, Chenevix-Trench G, Eeles R, Pharoah PD, Lambrechts D. Genome-Wide Meta-Analyses of Breast, Ovarian, and Prostate Cancer Association Studies Identify Multiple New Susceptibility Loci Shared by at Least Two Cancer Types. Cancer Discov [print-electronic]. 2016 Sep; 6(9): 1052-67. PMID: 27432226, PMCID: PMC5010513, PII: 2159-8290.CD-15-1227, DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-15-1227, ISSN: 2159-8290. 

  • Current approaches to precision medicine focus on a patient’s clinical history and are often combined with known genetic risk factors. Multiple diseases have shown strong prevalence differences across racial groups and as a result race has been incorporated into clinical practice as a factor to consider in personalizing a treatment plan. However, multiple studies have shown that administratively determined race or self-reported race are imprecise estimates of an individual’s actual genetic ancestry. Imprecise racial/ancestral identification may contribute to a lack of positive response to a personalized treatment plan. Furthermore, recent work by several groups has shown that for some diseases genetic ancestry (i.e., global ancestry) may directly interact with a patient’s clinical characteristics to modify disease risk and that this interaction varies at specific points in their genome (i.e., local ancestry). Within this proposal, we leverage the rich phenotypic information available from large electronic health record (EHR) biobanks to comprehensively evaluate the relationship between disease risk, drug response, and genetic ancestry and identify specific clinical characteristics of patients that interact with global and local genetic ancestry. Additionally, we will use 1000 genomes to not only map disease risk to specific genetic ancestries but use this information to better understand the geographic origins of disease.

     

    Keloids are benign fibrotic dermal tumors that form during prolonged wound healing. Keloids are characterized by an exaggerated response to injury and a prevalence disparity between African and non-African populations. Keloids occur in ~1/30 African Americans (AAs) with a 20-fold higher risk in AAs than in European Americans (EAs). Due to the high prevalence of keloids among AA and evidence that keloids are heritable, we conducted admixture mapping to determine if local ancestry associated with keloid risk. We observed strong evidence of ancestry associating with keloid risk at chr15q21.2-22.3 that included NEDD4, a gene previously implicated with keloids. However, the strongest associations were in a nearby gene, MYO1E. Evaluation of MYO1E expression showed increased expression in fibroblasts from keloid relative to normal scar tissue. We are currently identifying novel variants associated with keloids by resequencing genes in chr15q21.2-22.3 and validating in an independent cohort. We are also evaluating the biological relevance of candidate keloid loci or genes associated with keloid formation by using a well-characterized fibroblast strains from keloids and normal scars on up to ten genes to see what effects manipulation of their expression has on keloid and normal phenotypes in culture.

     

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    Hellwege JN, Russell SB, Williams SM, Edwards TL, Velez Edwards DR. Gene-based evaluation of low-frequency variation and genetically-predicted gene expression impacting risk of keloid formation. Ann. Hum. Genet [print-electronic]. 2018 Feb 2/27/2018; PMID: 29484647, DOI: 10.1111/ahg.12245, ISSN: 1469-1809.

    Velez Edwards DR, Tsosie KS, Williams SM, Edwards TL, Russell SB. Admixture mapping identifies a locus at 15q21.2-22.3 associated with keloid formation in African Americans. Hum. Genet [print-electronic]. 2014 Dec; 133(12): 1513-23. PMID: 25280642, PMCID: PMC4334317, DOI: 10.1007/s00439-014-1490-9, ISSN: 1432-1203.